Pedestrian fatalities at Midblock bus stops found to be up to five times higher

Bus transportation is an integral part of almost all public transportation systems. From students to everyday workers, passengers rely on buses to travel to important destinations. Most passengers begin or end their journey on foot, so providing safe access to bus stops is key to improving pedestrian safety.

Pedestrian fatalities in the United States have increased significantly in recent years, with 2022 set to be the highest number of fatalities since 1981. Previous studies have used crash data to analyze bus stop safety, but not all crashes near bus stops are directly related to the bus stop itself.

Candace Brakewood, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, worked with graduate research assistant Alison Riewoldt and fellow CEE professor Chris Cherry to address this gap by analyzing transit bus stop-related pedestrian fatalities from the Fatality Analysis and Reporting System (FARS) and comparing them to other nearby pedestrian fatalities.

Their study, titled “Analysis of Pedestrian Safety at Bus Stops Using FARS Data,” was recently published in the Journal of Safety Research.

The research was led by the University of New Mexico and funded through the Center for Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety (CPBS), a Tier I University Transportation Center (UTC) that includes UT, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Graduate Fellowship, which Rewalt received.

“Our study is unique because most previous studies have used a more localized approach, relying on regional or state crash data to understand the risks pedestrians face when traveling to and from bus stops, whereas our study uses a national dataset to get a bigger picture of what these risks are nationwide,” Lewald said. “Our work is generalizable and can be used to inform safety improvements at bus stops across the country.”

Mid-block stops the current danger

This study uses pedestrian crash data that clearly identifies bus stop-related crashes, providing a more nuanced assessment of crash risk factors for transit passengers and other pedestrians in the area compared to previous studies that simply relied on proximity or other measures.

One of the key takeaways from this study is that there are three typical types of crashes that result in pedestrian fatalities at bus stops.

Pedestrians crossing to or from a bus stop at an intersection Pedestrians waiting on the roadside at a mid-block stop Pedestrians crossing to or from a mid-block stop.

Mid-block stops are particularly risky, especially in high-velocity arteries. The mid-block location increased the probability of a fatal crash by a factor of 4.7 to 5.2, depending on the size of the buffer zone used in the analysis.

Pedestrians waiting on the roadside at mid-block stops are a collision subtype specific to transit passengers, who often wait on the roadside until a bus arrives, whereas other pedestrians typically do not stand on the roadside for long periods of time.

“This finding is noteworthy because it points to a practical place to focus on improving safety near bus stops,” Lewald said.

Find infrastructure solutions

The UT researchers hope that city planners, transportation engineers, and transportation agencies can use their findings to seek solutions to reduce risks for pedestrians accessing buses. Highly visible crosswalks, especially at mid-block intersections, and relocating bus stops closer to signalized intersections could be considered for infrastructure improvements.

“We have a follow-up research project underway that will continue to examine pedestrian safety at bus stops using another national dataset called CRSS, which includes non-fatal crashes,” Mr Brakewood said. “Our overarching goal is to identify the characteristics of bus stop-related crashes and determine which factors lead to more severe outcomes. We plan to share more results on new projects in the near future.”